Central Notes: Mathurin, G. Allen, J. Allen, Caruso
The Pacers have yet to supply a concrete timeline for rookie guard Bennedict Mathurin‘s return from his right ankle, per Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star. Indiana head coach Rick Carlisle did reveal that Mathurin will not suit up for the team in Thursday’s game against the mighty Bucks.
“He may travel, but he’s not going to play in the next game,” Carlisle said on Wednesday. “I’m not going to give you a timetable, but he’s not going to play in Milwaukee. He is doing better.”
Dopirak adds in another tweet that both Mathurin and second-year swingman Chris Duarte will be sidelined for today’s game. Starters Tyrese Haliburton, Buddy Hield and Myles Turner, plus reserve point guard T.J. McConnell, are all questionable to suit up. Haliburton is dealing with a right ankle sprain.
There’s more out of the Central Division:
- Bucks wing Grayson Allen will also miss Thursday’s bout against the Pacers, his second straight absence, due to right plantar fascia soreness, per Jim Owczarski of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Twitter link).
- Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen will remain out the team’s next game, Friday against the Wizards, due to a right eye contusion, per Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (Twitter link).
- Bulls wing Alex Caruso was held out of a recent team practice due to an unspecified illness, but is currently somewhat on the mend, per K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago (Twitter link). That said, he is questionable to play on Friday for Chicago, when they will square off against the Timberwolves. Should Caruso sit, it is likely that reserve forward Patrick Williams would returning to the club’s starting five.
Southeast Notes: Richards, Carter, Lowry, Yurtseven
Hornets center Nick Richards has enjoyed a career year in Charlotte, writes Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer.
Boone wonders if Richards, who is eligible for restricted free agency this summer, has carved out enough of a role to warrant consideration as a long-term member of the rebuilding club’s roster. Richards is averaging a career-best 7.8 PPG, 5.7 RPG, and 1.0 BPG this season.
“I’m just trying to be more consistent,” Richards said of his improvement this season. “I’m just getting as many blocks as possible, getting as many rebounds as possible. That’s my job, that’s what I’m here for. So, I’ve just got to do it to the best of my ability.”
Boone tweets that Richards will most likely earn another start tonight, as nominal starter Mark Williams is considered doubtful to play through a right thumb sprain.
There’s more out of the Southeast Division:
- In his first contest back with the Magic following a three-game absence, a big overtime victory over the Heat, starting center Wendell Carter Jr. helped galvanize his team, writes Khobi Price of The Orlando Sentinel. The 6’10” big man scored 27 points and pulled down 11 rebounds in Orlando’s 126-114 win. Price notes that the Magic’s defensive efficiency suffered mightily with Carter sidelined.
- After being sidelined for 15 straight games with a sore knee, Heat point guard Kyle Lowry played off the bench for the first time since January 2013 in Saturday’s loss to Orlando, writes Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald (subscriber link). Gabe Vincent drew the start. Lowry is adjusting to the change, having started for 677 consecutive games. “At this point, I know in my heart I’m a starter,” Lowry said. “(Head coach Erik Spoelstra) and I talked and he wants to make sure I’m healthy and not have to change the lineup again and change the rotation. Great communicator he is, great coach he is, I respect (that).”
- Heat reserve center Omer Yurtseven made his first appearance this season after Cody Zeller broke his nose and had to depart the Magic game, Jackson adds. Yurtseven, a restricted free agent this summer, had just one rebound, one missed shot, and a foul in seven minutes.
Jazz Notes: Markkanen, Clarkson, THT
First-time All-Star Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen is thinking beyond the Most Improved Player award, for which he is a clear frontrunner, writes Nick Friedell of ESPN.
Per Friedell, Markkanen’s main priority this year is helping Utah qualify for the play-in tournament. At 33-35, the Jazz currently occupy the Western Conference’s tenth seed.
“I talked about the responsibility, and I’m enjoying the challenge, and if those individual goals happen, if we keep winning games and I keep doing my thing [that would be ideal],” Markkanen said. “I go every single day to keep working, and I hope that happens, but we’ll see. Just try to get these wins together and keep going from there, but obviously it would be a cool trophy to have at home, but that’s not the main goal right now.”
There’s more out of Utah:
- Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson sat out Saturday’s game against the Hornets with a right thumb sprain, per Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune (Twitter link). It marked his fifth absence in Utah’s past six games.
- The Jazz still aren’t sure whether or not Talen Horton-Tucker is a point guard, but when he has games like he did on Saturday – when he scored 37 points, dished out 10 assists, and pulled down eight boards in leading Utah to victory over Charlotte – his designation doesn’t much matter, writes Eric Walden of The Salt Lake Tribune. As Walden notes, Horton-Tucker may be finding his niche as a play-maker during what has been an uneven first season with the Jazz. “I am incredibly hard on Talen, I have been all season; he knows that that is because I believe in him, in his talent, his ability,” first-year Jazz head coach Will Hardy said. “He’s still young — he just turned 22 — and he has some real physical gifts that were on display tonight.”
- The recent performances of a revitalized Horton-Tucker could help set him up nicely for the rest of his NBA career, Sarah Todd of The Deseret News opines. Horton-Tucker has an $11MM player option for 2023/24, and is still hoping to prove his value beyond the end of his current deal.
Southwest Notes: Cauley-Stein, Smith, Wembanyama, Morant
Veteran center Willie Cauley-Stein‘s 10-day deal with the Rockets has expired, per Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (Twitter link). Feigen adds that Houston does not have any players on the docket to fill his roster spot immediately.
Given that the Rockets are now carrying just 13 players on standard contracts, one below the NBA’s required minimum, they’ll have two weeks to add a 14th player. As Feigen notes, Cauley-Stein did not play while with Houston.
There’s more out of the Southwest Division:
- Rockets rookie Jabari Smith Jr. has struggled in an uneven first pro season, Feigen writes in a separate article. Selected with the third pick in 2022 out of Auburn, the 6’10” power forward has exhibited enticing defensive flashes, but has struggled offensively, Feigen notes.
- The rebuilding Spurs‘ current players can’t help but acknowledge the ongoing sweepstakes for the right to draft top 2023 prospect Victor Wembanyama, writes Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News. “It’s hard not to avoid looking at the bottom,” forward Keita Bates-Diop said. “I don’t like looking at it when I see it.” Veteran San Antonio forward Doug McDermott also weighed in: “I know everyone is probably aware of (the standings). You see it on social media and it’s kind of hard to escape. But it’s not like I’m checking on my phone every night to see where we’re at.”
- Warriors power forward Draymond Green weighed in on the plight of troubled Grizzlies All-Star point guard Ja Morant on his self-titled podcast. Green opined that Morant could learn from All-Star veterans LeBron James and Stephen Curry, both of whom have been model citizens while operating as the de facto faces of the league. (hat tip to Evan Barnes of The Memphis Commercial Appeal for the transcription). “You can’t be the face of the NBA putting the NBA in harm’s way,” Green said. “A team competing at a championship level, No. 2 seed in the West, it’s being thrown away.”
Central Notes: Hampton, Wiseman, Beverley, Horst
Third-year Pistons guard R.J. Hampton is slowly finding his place within his new team, writes Mike Curtis of The Detroit News (subscription required).
Hampton has earned significant playing time since arriving in Detroit last month following injuries to guards Killian Hayes and Alec Burks. He got off to a slow start, but with a bump in minutes over the past four contests, he is averaging 10.0 PPG on 48% field goal shooting, 2.3 RPG, 1.5 APG, and 1.3 SPG.
“I always tell myself, ‘When you put a pizza in the oven, you don’t like what it looks like after 20 seconds,'” Hampton told Curtis. “You gotta let it cook for a minute. You take it out the oven once it cooks and then you eat your pizza… I’m finding my footing here and kind of understanding my role, what I want it to be.”
There’s more out of the Central Division:
- New Pistons addition James Wiseman is stringing together the best basketball in his NBA career thus far, Curtis writes in a subscriber-only mailbag for The Detroit News. Curtis also addresses questions on the free agency of Hamidou Diallo and the exact extent of Detroit’s player injuries.
- Bulls starting point guard Patrick Beverley, an unrestricted free agent this summer, would like to remain with his hometown team beyond the 2022/23 season, writes Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. “Thinking about staying in a place long term, stuff like that, that’s not really up to your control,” Beverley noted. “I’d like to think that I did all the right things when I was in Minnesota, and I was traded the next summer. So you can’t get caught up in what you can’t control.”
- Bucks team general manager Jon Horst recently reflected on how the team has made subtle roster enhancements since injuries and depth issues hampered their title defense in 2022, according to Jim Owczarski of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “As proud as I was, or we were, of our team last year – that’s sincere and genuine – it’s hard, it’s hard to defend a championship,” Horst told Owczarski. “We were right there. We had a chance. And that’s all you ask for every year… And we went into the summer, the offseason, like ‘we’ve got to get better… These teams are good, we’re like ‘we’ve got to get better, we’ve got to load up.’ So, really what we did is we loaded up.”
NBA Fines Fred VanVleet $30K
The NBA announced (Twitter link) that it has fined Raptors point guard Fred VanVleet after he took umbrage with the work of referee Ben Taylor following a loss to the Clippers on Wednesday.
VanVleet will be docked to the tune of $30K for his criticisms, per the NBA statement.
During the 108-100 defeat, Los Angeles shot 17 more free throws than Toronto. Taylor whistled VanVleet for a technical foul during the contest’s third quarter.
In his postgame remarks, VanVleet acknowledged that he would most likely incur a fine before launching into his criticisms of Taylor’s officiating and that of the other attendant referees in general. VanVleet observed that several of his technical fouls this season (five of eight, to be precise), transpired during games Taylor was officiating.
VanVleet alternately called the fouls “bulls—” and “personal” during his remarks, and singled out Taylor as being “f—ing terrible” on Wednesday.
The 6’1″ vet, 29, has been enjoying a solid year for the 32-34 Raptors, technical fouls aside. He’s averaging 19.3 PPG on .391/.341/.899 shooting splits, 6.9 APG, 4.3 RPG and 1.6 SPG in 55 games this season, all starts.
Jazz Notes: Dunn, Prospects, Season, THT, Jones
Jazz guard Kris Dunn has evolved from being a 10-day contract signing to a critical role player, opines Eric Walden of The Salt Lake Tribune.
Dunn is currently averaging 12.6 PPG, 4.3 APG, 4.2 RPG, and 1.7 SPG across his six games with Utah. He is also connecting on career-bests of 54.2% from the floor and 43.8% of his three-pointers. Dunn credits his stint with the Capital City Go-Go, NBAGL affiliate of the Wizards, with helping improve his game ahead of his Utah tenure this season.
“The G League really helped my game this year,” Dunn said. “I had some inconsistency. Now I feel comfortable when I’m playing; I know where my spots are, I’m trying to take good shots … The game is slowing down for me.”
Dunn, the No. 5 pick in 2016 out of Providence, is crossing his fingers that he can earn a long-term contract with the Jazz, writes Sarah Todd of The Deseret News.
There’s more out of Utah:
- The Jazz find themselves at a bit of a crossroads as they head into the final weeks of the 2022/23 NBA season, writes Tony Jones of The Athletic. The team could position itself into top-10 lottery pick terrain fairly easily, or it could try to string together some victories for some level of postseason play, be that a play-in tournament or even a playoff appearance.
- With March Madness set to kick off soon, the Jazz have a variety of intriguing NCAA players worth keeping an eye on, in addition to top prospects Victor Wembanyama and Scoot Henderson, writes Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune (subscriber-exclusive link).
- Jazz role players Damian Jones and Talen Horton-Tucker, both of whom have player options for the 2023/24 season, come under the microscope for fresh analysis courtesy of Todd in a separate piece. Todd considers Jones a solid two-way player with some potential as a long-range shooter, and suggests that Horton-Tucker, while still a raw prospect, has exhibited some potential as a point guard.
California Notes: Mann, Kawhi, PG, Green, Russell
Clippers reserve guard Terance Mann is adjusting to his new gig behind starting point guard Russell Westbrook, writes Janis Carr of The Orange County Register. Having replaced Reggie Jackson, Mann had been the team’s starter at the point until Westbrook joined the club.
“It’s all right,” Mann said of the change. “Kind of reminds me of the position I had (before). I think I’ve been here before earlier in the year. Same sort of role if I can recall. But it’s been going all right. Just figuring it out. New unit. New voices out there. Different looks. So just sifting it out, sifting through it.
“… You know, they just want me to go out there and bring energy,” Mann continued. “I think I can do a way better job defensively than I had been doing. But just bring energy on the offensive. Make shots and play defense. And I think that’s going to be my role on this team, from here on out.”
There’s more out of California:
- Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue is counting on star wings Paul George and Kawhi Leonard to help the team hone its defense in the home stretch of the season, says Law Murray of The Athletic. “The last two days, we challenged our team to be better defensively, and I thought tonight with [George] setting the tone early, I just thought our defense tonight was really good,” Lue said. “I thought we really got into the ball. We were physical… I thought PG and Kawhi really set the tone early, and everyone else I thought was really good defensively.”
- Ahead of Wednesday’s Golden State/Memphis game, Warriors forward Draymond Green took to his podcast via The Volume and launched into a lengthy tirade against Grizzlies small forward Dillon Brooks, who had previously talked derisively about Green, writes Evan Barnes of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. “This idiot said, ‘I don’t know what Draymond does out there, I just don’t like Golden State,'” Green said said. “I, quite frankly, wouldn’t like a team that beats me all the time, either.”
- Lakers starting point guard D’Angelo Russell is expected to return to action on Friday for the team’s game against the Raptors, reports Dave McMenamin of ESPN (Twitter link). McMenamin adds that Russell will immediately move ahead of Dennis Schröder, who had been starting while D-Lo was hurt.
Nets Notes: Simmons, Defense, Pace, Noel
Nets big man Ben Simmons is dealing with injuries on multiple fronts. While trying to rehabilitate his sore left knee, he has been afflicted with a sore back, as head coach Jacque Vaughn details.
“During his strengthening process he did experience some back soreness,” Vaughn said, per Brian Lewis of The New York Post (Twitter link). “So now we’re in the process of strengthening the knee while also managing the back.”
Vaughn doesn’t know whether Simmons’ back issues are occurring in the same area as his surgically repaired herniated disc, Lewis tweets.
Simmons was shelved for five games due to the knee issues, and now will remain out as a result of the back problem. As Lewis writes, he is running short on time to effectively mount a return to the floor this season.
The 6’10” Simmons has found himself on the fringes of his club’s rotation of late. Across his five games prior to his latest injury, he averaged just 3.6 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.8 assists in a mere 19.1 minutes per.
There’s more out of Brooklyn:
- The Nets’ defense has fallen off of late, as the team’s revised roster is struggling to learn each others’ tendencies during the home stretch of the 2022/23 regular season. Lewis examines those struggles in a separate piece (subscriber-exclusive link), exploring how Brooklyn can clean things up on that end of the floor.
- Brooklyn is aware that it needs to continue playing fast to maximize its personnel, Lewis writes in another article. “Coaches talk about transition and getting out and the guys we have, we’re all unselfish and play the right way,” starting small forward Mikal Bridges said. “We all can run the lanes and get out. So that’s why we always want to get stops, because I feel like we’re a tough team in transition. So that’s just the emphasis that we had, just getting out after getting stops, go in transition trying to get easy ones.”
- The newest Net, center Nerlens Noel – who is initially joining the team on a 10-day deal that is not yet official – will add more legitimate size off the bench behind starter Nic Claxton, Lewis opines in an additional article. Lewis adds that Brooklyn has recently enlisted two forwards, 6’7″ Dorian Finney-Smith and 6’4″ Royce O’Neale, as small-ball reserve centers.
Meyers Leonard Signs Second 10-Day Deal With Bucks
MARCH 4: Leonard has officially signed a new 10-day deal with the Bucks, according to NBA.com’s transaction log. It will run through March 13, making Leonard eligible for six more games.
MARCH 2: Veteran big man Meyers Leonard is signing a second consecutive 10-day contract with the Bucks, sources inform Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). The seven-foot center’s first 10-day deal will expire on Friday night.
Newly-anointed Eastern Conference coach of the month Mike Budenholzer had high praise for his new bench big, as Eric Nehm of The Athletic tweets.
“Just to bring his size and physicality, I think it’s an area that maybe the roster, is one of the things it doesn’t have and he fills that need and still has the ability to make threes and spread the court,” Budenholzer said, per Nehm. “He just has a lot of basketball characteristics that fit us. The human’s been great. He’s fit in quickly with the locker room.”
Leonard, a career 39.1% three-point shooter, signed his first 10-day deal with the Bucks late last month. Through four games, the 30-year-old is averaging 2.8 PPG and 2.0 RPG for Milwaukee. Those four contests represent the big man’s first NBA action since March 2021.
A combination of personal controversy and ankle and shoulder surgery recoveries have kept him sidelined in the intervening seasons. Leonard was flipped from the Heat to the Thunder after using an antisemitic slur during a video game live stream. Oklahoma City subsequently released him, and he had not been rostered since.